A young Syrian died in the Channel, first death of a migrant at sea on the Franco-British border in 2025

According to the count of migrant aid associations, which also includes deaths on land, 89 exiles died on the coast of northern France in 2024.

The first drama of the year in La Manche. A young Syrian migrant died during an attempt to cross the Channel on the night of Friday to Saturday January 11. This is the “first death at sea in 2025” on the Franco-British border, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture told AFP. According to the count of migrant aid associations, which also includes deaths on land, 89 exiles died on the coast of northern France in 2024.

“Last night, 30 migrants tried to get into the water on Sangatte beach”near Calais, according to the prefecture. “A few minutes later, the group disembarked from the boat soaked. (…) On the floor of the boat, a man in his twenties of Syrian nationality was discovered in cardio-respiratory arrest (…), probably crushed by other migrants”continued the prefecture.

“In 2024, 77 people will die trying to reach Britain on board a small boat“, named after the precarious boats used to cross the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, a record since the start in 2018 of the use of this means of crossing in this area. Due to unfavorable weather conditions, only 61 migrants arrived in the UK aboard small boats between January 1 and 10, according to figures from the British authorities.

In 2024, 36,816 migrants managed to cross the Channel on these boats, or 25% more than in 2023, according to the British Home Office.